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Author
Topic: oral and Poz (Read 5712 times)

I always limited my encounters to oral sex without ejaculation because I thought it would keep me from getting HIV. After my last test in Sept I had three of these instances, all rather brief. I went to get tested thinking I had nothing to worry about and was floored when I got my results back. Just got confirmatory tests- viral load at 13,000. I can't believe that I got it this way, I always thought I was having safe sex. Never got any other STD in my life, just woke up with the big one.

"I have tried hard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else."

Does anyone know what my numbers mean- viral load of about 13500 and CD4 at 501? Are these generally good, bad or normal for someone who has been infected in the last 6 months? I'm not looking for medical advice, just a general sense from people have been through this.

Hi garyboy and welcome to the forum. You will find a great deal of useful information in our learners' section - take time to read through them, and you will, I'm sure, find the answers to many questions you no doubt have. However, while wondering about how you may have become infected is understandable, ultimately it's not going to help you move forward. You are where you are; and sadly looking back won't change that.

You tell us that your tests have confirmed that you are HIV positive. Have you been back to your clinic since your diagnosis, and what has your doctor said to you? I think it would help us to have an idea of what you already know.

Though I am very sorry you were infected with HIV, I am glad that, because of the unique circumstance of your infection, your treatment will be closely monitored and your medications likely free of charge.

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"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

My situation is I went to a HIV specialist near the beginning of April and had 7 vials of blood drawn for inro. tests. Was scheduled to go back 2 weeks later. Was called back the day before appointment and told test was not back and they would call me when they had info. I waited another week and called the office asking to talk to the doctor because it was taking a long time, that fact coupled with the unusual way that I apparently became infected started to freak me out and I thought something was wrong with my tests. After another week of calling and asking to speak with someone to no avail I called the doctor on his emergency line and he scolded me for no less than 10 min. So the next day I went to the office and demanded to get my records and take them with me. So that is where I am, sitting here reading my own medical records because I have yet to find a competent doctor. In the interim I am just perplexed and a little freaked out that my phenotype test lists 18 mutations. Not sure if that is normal either. I need to find a competent doctor who can interpret this for me.

My situation is I went to a HIV specialist near the beginning of April and had 7 vials of blood drawn for inro. tests. Was scheduled to go back 2 weeks later. Was called back the day before appointment and told test was not back and they would call me when they had info. I waited another week and called the office asking to talk to the doctor because it was taking a long time, that fact coupled with the unusual way that I apparently became infected started to freak me out and I thought something was wrong with my tests. After another week of calling and asking to speak with someone to no avail I called the doctor on his emergency line and he scolded me for no less than 10 min. So the next day I went to the office and demanded to get my records and take them with me. So that is where I am, sitting here reading my own medical records because I have yet to find a competent doctor. In the interim I am just perplexed and a little freaked out that my phenotype test lists 18 mutations. Not sure if that is normal either. I need to find a competent doctor who can interpret this for me.

Ok, so just to be sure, your positive status was confirmed by means of a Western Blot? Also, how do you gather that there are 18 mutations? You don't seem to be very knowledgeable about HIV to understand this.

Edit: Mark beat me to it. Please realize that we are slightly confused by your story. Hopefully you will get this very fascinating situation sorted out.

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"I have tried hard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else."

regarding my level of understanding of HIV it is minimal at best, I never thought I would be in this situation. As far as western blot I have no idea, but I know WB from what I understand is a combination of antibody tests that would no doubt be overshadowed by a HIV viral load test which picks up the presence of HIV not my body's likely byproducts. As far as mutations at the end of phenotype test is a list of "complete list of mutations detected" which total 18 (I promise I can count).

garyboy - again, forgive me: I'm not the sharpest tool in the box. You say that you "... ended up at the HIV specialist". Are we to understand that this specialist has conducted the tests Rev. Moon referred to, and has he confirmed that you are indeed HIV positive?

@ Mark. I have moved beyond the realm of WB antibody testing. I have a HIV profile test that indicates a HIV-1 RNA of, and let me be exact, 13,588 copy/mL. Assuming a normal adult blood volume of 5L I currently have 67,940,000 copies of HIV circulating in my body.

My status is not in question, although I'm sure there are many other questions.

Indeed there are; and given that you have "... always limited [your] encounters to oral sex without ejaculation", it would on the face of it appear unlikely that your infection was sexually transmitted. I am sure, however, that your specialist will be better placed to answer your questions and concerns than us. When do you see him / her next?

I always limited my encounters to oral sex without ejaculation because I thought it would keep me from getting HIV. After my last test in Sept I had three of these instances, all rather brief. I went to get tested thinking I had nothing to worry about and was floored when I got my results back. Just got confirmatory tests- viral load at 13,000. I can't believe that I got it this way, I always thought I was having safe sex. Never got any other STD in my life, just woke up with the big one.

Oh please, not another immaculate infection. You don't get HIV from oral sex, swallowing or not and I'll save you lots of grief, in that nobody here will believe you got HIV from oral sex. We've seen the science and we know the truth about HIV infection. You don't get HIV from oral.

Thanks for your understanding. I got this treatment at MedHelp and left there, I thought I would expect better from people at Poz. At first I was all concerned about not having oral anymore because I wasn't sure wft was up with what happened to me and I didn't want to risk putting anyone else in danger so I was hyper sensitive about what I have been doing. But the general feelings are that I'm a liar so I guess I will just carry on as usual, after all the crim. transmission laws in this state, and no other that I am aware of exempt oral sex from their statutory language. I have tired to tell people what happened to me and how unusual I am finding it, but the message is rejected. I had one simple question about interpreting my numbers and everyone is more interested in attacking my story, so I will move on now. Peace

And yet, although you say that "I had one simple question about interpreting my numbers and everyone is more interested in attacking my story", it was precisely that story (which even you acknowledge is unusual), rather than a question about your numbers, which was the premise of your first post, and evidently the first thing you wanted us to know. I think it was this, plus your edited account of your diagnosis, which perhaps caught people by surprise.

As I tried to suggest up-thread, even if you have made history by becoming the first person to become HIV+ through oral sex which involved no contact whatsoever with seminal fluid, the point is not how you became infected but that you are now where you are. I am not a doctor, and in any event few of us here would be qualified to comment on the significance of your most unusual case. But rather than leave, why not stick around and update us on how things develop for you. I am sure that you will find, as I did, that there is a wealth of information, care and support to be found on this site. Stay, and you will see.

Thanks for your understanding. I got this treatment at MedHelp and left there, I thought I would expect better from people at Poz. At first I was all concerned about not having oral anymore because I wasn't sure wft was up with what happened to me and I didn't want to risk putting anyone else in danger so I was hyper sensitive about what I have been doing. But the general feelings are that I'm a liar so I guess I will just carry on as usual, after all the crim. transmission laws in this state, and no other that I am aware of exempt oral sex from their statutory language. I have tired to tell people what happened to me and how unusual I am finding it, but the message is rejected. I had one simple question about interpreting my numbers and everyone is more interested in attacking my story, so I will move on now. Peace

What you got from this poz guy is the truth that you don't get HIV from oral sex. As bad as I feel for you being poz, this forum prides itself on presenting the latest, scientific peer-reviewed research, which tells us the known ways of contracting HIV. We have a responsibility to present only the truth on transmission. You started your post by asserting you got poz from oral sex, so my reply was spot on.

If you plan to survive living with HIV, you need to know the truth about transmission. Everyone is more than willing to help answer your questions, we just can't buy the oral transmission route.

I always limited my encounters to oral sex without ejaculation because I thought it would keep me from getting HIV. After my last test in Sept I had three of these instances, all rather brief. I went to get tested thinking I had nothing to worry about and was floored when I got my results back. Just got confirmatory tests- viral load at 13,000. I can't believe that I got it this way, I always thought I was having safe sex. Never got any other STD in my life, just woke up with the big one.

I had one simple question about interpreting my numbers and everyone is more interested in attacking my story, so I will move on now. Peace

Gary,

Take a look at your introductory post. You never had a question, you made a statement regarding your own infection.

To be really honest I couldn't care less if you believe that you got your HIV from a drunken and poppered up weekend-long gang bang with a troupe of clowns or from touching baby Jesus's peepee. You believe what you wanna believe. You will find however that not many members of this forum (and apparently elsewhere, as noted by your MedHelp experience) will be very open to these claims. You will get support if you need it, but don't ask that other people buy into myths that have been repeatedly disproved by science.

You need to visit another ID specialist. Be more patient this time and have an open mind to their advice and knowledge. Make sure that you are indeed positive (not sure why, but somehow I remain not fully convinced about the veracity of your status --there may have been a lab error or something else is going on here). The more that you know the better that you'll be equipped to deal with HIV (if indeed you have it).

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"I have tried hard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else."

Still you have to try - because the same mechanisms by which HIV infects are the same mechanisms by which the medicines prevent it's replication. This disease is creating a complacence by which people are, Biblically, picking and choosing their "beliefs" rather than the facts.

I fear that road leads to ignorance, which leads to recklessness, which leads to silence when real knowledge is needed.

Silence, of course, equals death.

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"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."